Call to stop crackdown

THE Russian company that owns the country’s most popular social media network on Monday expressed concern at the increasing number of internet users facing prosecution for liking and sharing content online.

“We see that in many regions of our country it is becoming popular to start criminal proceedings against (internet) users on social media,” Mail.ru, which is owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, said in a statement.

The group also called for an “amnesty” for “those who were unjustly convicted and are serving time on such charges”.